Quantum phenomena essay

A powerful and fascinating result of quantum effects on the nanoscale is the concept of ‘tunability’. By changing particle size, one can fine-tune a material’s property of interest - such as changing the fluorescence color - which can then be used to identify particles and label them with markers for various purposes.

Quantum dots – bound by the quantum confinement effect – are highly manipulable and, as such, they can be fine-tuned to exact fluorescing wavelengths. Quantum dots are up to a thousand times brighter and glow longer than conventional fluorescent dyes.

Introduction Quantum mechanics or also known as quantum physics is a field of science which studies the behaviour of particles at sub-atomic level. This theory tells us that short-lived pairs of particles and their antiparticles are constantly being created and destroyed in an apparently empty space.

As the particle size is shrunk – eventually reaching nanosize – this averaging no longer works to describe the material’s physical properties, and we must look at each individual atom’s quantum behavior – and their interactions with one another – instead.